Into the South
by Kiyera
Summary: What happens when the storm is found in the south? What will happen to Sam, Laura, Brian and Jack? nothing seems to be going right. please r and r.
1. Into the South

They all had a feeling that it was going to happen; it was more of a matter of when it was going to happen. The north had been ravaged by the super cells, and it was only a matter of time until the southern hemisphere would suffer the same feat. The one thing that differed between these to areas of the world was the preparedness. The northern countries were used to snow; the southern countries barely knew what it was. The storm was going to be much worse than ever predictable, not by intensity, as some thought.

"When do you think it's gonna happen?" many people were heard to ask.

The people in southern countries may have heard about the events that took place in the north, but they were so sure that it would never happen to them, so they were completely unprepared when it happened. People screaming everywhere, not knowing how to handle them. The homes had no fireplaces to keep warm with, so any help that arrived, did not do any good.

Sam wanted to know the same. He felt that if there was going to be another storm, he wanted to go, and help people before it came. He changed to be a more caring person who now understood that he was not all important.

Laura and Brian had heard him ask his dad if when he went to Brazil, if he could go with him, to warn them about the approaching storm. They wanted to go along as well. And to their surprise, they were able to go.

The only thing that was a problem was that fuel froze before warming of the pipes, helicopters were not usable. The only usable transportation was by car. And that would just barely do the job.

They had arrived too late to help most, if not all in the city they arrived in. There was only a single building that had any sort of heat at all, and the generator was starting to go. It wasn't nearly large enough. Thousands of people were huddled together, just trying to keep warm. Anyone found near the door, or even windows had frozen to death, even if they had warm layers, or others keeping them warm. They all barely had a chance.

They didn't. Suddenly, out of the blue, a sudden burst of sub-zero degree air, snow, wind, and hale struck, any one that it could get its fists around. Only those, like Sam, Laura, Brian, and Jack even had a chance to survive because of the arctic gear they were wearing. Everyone around them perished, they had no exit. They were trapped, with barely enough food. And no boat that would have a mess hall where they could find any. They had to manage to try to survive on frozen food until anyone could be sent for them without themselves falling victim to they storm. Like before, they had to avoid windows and doors. They even had to make a fire pit to not find the fate of the others. It seemed that they were at the last straw. They were forced to survive of off less than a candy bar a day. They were doomed.


	2. The News

"What is going on here?" Laura asked

"The whole country of Brazil is frozen under 13 feet of ice, higher than most houses and buildings in the area." Brian told her (using the same radio as in New York).

It was true. They were trapped. It didn't help them that the storm was only still going to get worse and worse. And by then the snow was about 6 feet deep on top of the 13 or so feet of ice. They didn't know what event was going to happen next.

Suddenly, the roof started caving in, it looked like it was about to burst. The ceiling was cracking. They knew that they had to try to avoid windows, doors, and any other thing that faced the exterior. But they had no choice. They had to break a window or a sky light and try to get out.

"What is going to happen to us, Dad?" Sam questioned.

Jack really did not know what was going to happen to them so all he had to say was…

"I'm sorry to say this, but I have no idea, not even the slightest clue as to what will happen to us." Jack said apologetically.

Sam, Brian, and Laura gasped at this news. They knew that the chances of surviving this storm was much less than the one that they survived only a few months ago.

Meanwhile, the snow was just piling on the roof, and was nearly touching Sam's head. They had to break open a sky light or really just a regular window now. They searched frantically to try and find a tool to break it open. There was nothing to be found.

Just then, the window burst and snow came flying in like an avalanche on an open mountain. The snow was heavy, and covered any sort tool that might have been found. The door was jammed by ice and snow, so they could not avoid the same fate as the items in the hall.

"We have to climb out the window." Jack told the three of them.

"But how? It's nearly three feet off the ground!" Brian suggested.

"The snow is deep enough to step on," Laura told him"

"And we have tools that can hold onto even the wettest glass." Sam added on.

They all climbed out the window, but had no idea where North or South was. They didn't know which way to go. They thought that what they had done to get out of that hall was completely pointless until Jack pointed out that they did have a weather-proof, all purpose tent that they could find shelter in.

"And why didn't you tell us this before?" Brian asked.

"Well, you never asked!" Jack replied, with a voice that you could tell was trying to lighten the mood.

He then walked away, trying to find an area where they could set the tent up. And even if he found a possible area, he wasn't sure if it were on solid ice, or on top of the building that nearly collapsed on their heads.

His attempt didn't really work; they were all still panicking about what was going to happen to them.

If there was anyone out there, even within 5 feet of them, they could not tell. The snow and whipping winds were that bad. Not that anyone would be out there, or even be able to survive in these conditions if they did not have the technology that they had.

No matter what they did, nothing good would happen to them. And they were still trapped.


	3. The Storm is over, not the Troubles

Then, just as suddenly as the storm began, it stopped. The air was frigid. And you could see everything for miles. No trees were left to stand, no towers blocking any view of another place. If there was another place. It looked the same every direction they looked in. They were more panicked than they were when they were trapped. Well, they still kind of were.

"What is that stench?" asked Sam.

_Actually, I don't really wanna know what it is… Sam thought_

"It's probably the decaying bodies of people and animals." Brian replied as though he was waiting for that question to be asked.

Sam and Laura just stared at him and told him to shut up, and he slunk away faster than a frightened turtle.

Then it suddenly occurred to them that they were in a no better position than they were during the storm. It was much, much colder, and much windier. A sudden and awkward quiet fell over the three of them. Jack had been trying to find which way was north. And it didn't really work. When they followed him, they dug into the snow, and found that they had actually gone south. And since then, he had put Brian in charge of the navigation. This wasn't much better. They still got lost.

Since nobody could navigate, they really were lost. Wandering for hours, not knowing which way they were going.

Then Laura suggested an idea that the others thought was insane.

"Why don't we try to follow the North Star? I mean, we could only travel at night, but it would probably be better than doing what we are doing now." She suggested.

As she expected, they all laughed at her primitive idea. Well, except for Sam, he thought it was like the best idea since sliced bread. So he being the honorary leader since his dad was still thinking that idea was insufficient, decided to lead them all north.

This worked until it was a cloudy night, and the star could not be seen. They had only traveled 12 miles in three days using this method, but at least they weren't going south again. They could tell that Jack was happy that Sam was actually doing something that didn't involve sarcasm. But they could tell that he was getting annoyed about not leading the group of them back north, and his son was.

Since they left that recreation hall in Brasilia, they had made progress. But that was until Sam broke his leg on an icy slope, and had to be carried on a sled because he could not walk. Brian could barely keep track of the star, and neither could Jack. It was up to Laura to get them back to Mexico. Luckily for them, Northern Brazil wasn't that far from their destination.

They had to have passed thousands of bodies of people and animals that did not know what do in any storm, never mind one to this extent. But the five of them became around ten, when they spotted a few others who had survived, trying to make their way north. And they told them of others that they saw, who had made it, but just couldn't survive they -20f weather, with the wind chill making it below -40f. hearing that, they began to be unsure if, or when, they would actually make it to Mexico City, and if they did – what would become of their new friends?


	4. Whats Next?

After walking for more than 3000 miles, everyone but Sam, whose leg was still broken, was exhausted. All some of Sam's sarcastic remarks did not really help them either. They didn't need to worry about the Panama Canal, because it was kind of frozen, so that helped them.

Luckily for them, they didn't need to walk anymore. A troop of planes that was flying overhead had spotted them. But they didn't know this.

"What's that noise?" Sam asked

"I, I think that it's some kinda plane or something." Laura said looking up into the sky.

"But I don't see anything." Brian added.

"That's cuz they are in a cloud." Jack replied to Brian's statement.

Everyone was ecstatic to see the planes coming to get them, except for the four of them. They didn't want to get on the plane, like everyone else did. It seemed as though something wasn't quite right in the sky that would make them feel more comfortable with going on a plane at this point.

"I dunno why, but I'm feeling that getting on that plane will lead to something bad." Laura told them.

"I kinda feel the same way." Sam added.

"Yeah, me too." Brian said.

So they didn't get on that plane. There might be more coming later this week. But what was this week? What day was it? These questions were constantly running through all of their heads. It was easy to tell.

They saw the plane take off, cleanly, and then vanish off into the distance. Not really. As soon as it seemed that the plane was out of view, a flash of lighting struck the plane. The plane came pummeling down, crashing just about 100 yards in front of Laura.

Now they knew why they had the feelings not to get on the plane. But they couldn't think about that now because there was a tremendous thunderstorm, that only created more snow. It didn't last too long, maybe an hour tops. But it made it more of a problem for the four of them to walk further because it was the light snow, which needed to be compressed or it was almost impossible to get across.

"Just our luck, we were in the clear and then it had to go and snow again." Brian said.

"Well, we can't control that, can we…?" Laura told him

Brian just stuck his tongue out at her like a child at a playground that got to the last swing first.

They didn't want to, but they had to find shelter, or start moving in order to stay alive. But it just started to get colder, so now there only option was to find a shelter.

"Anyone know how to make an igloo?" Sam joked

Jack didn't think it was such a bad idea and began to mold snow into the shape of a rectangle. Laura and Brian soon joined him. Leaving Sam to command them in forming it. They weren't really sure if this was going to work, but it was worth a try. And if they ever had to go anywhere that this skill was needed, which could have been in just 5 miles or so, they would have it.

It was finished, now they had to get inside. Which wasn't as easy as they thought it would be. And it didn't help that it was a bit too small to hold them all, but it was better than trying to squeeze into a weather proof tent because the other one they had got blown away in the snow storm. All they could do now was wait until morning to see what would happen to them.


	5. Unwanted

It was morning. The snow had stopped falling. The igloo didn't really help, but it kind of kept them warm.

They had to get moving. They had to be no more than 150 miles away or so from there. And it hadn't gotten any warmer, and they weren't going to be picking up any sort of speed any time soon either. And it really didn't help that Sam had gotten an infection in his broken leg. They thought that all hope was lost.

They were closer than they thought. They looked above the large hill of snow, and what did they see? They saw the sign for the US Embassy facing right at them. But was it really true? They weren't sure until they ran up to it.

It wasn't. I was a mirage. They were no closer than they thought they were when this day began. On this day alone, they had travel 30 miles, and they weren't nearly done.

They soon came up to something familiar to them. Not knowing which way they were going, they had unintentionally gone south instead of north. It was the igloo that they had left not more than three hours ago. They were doing what they had done in the beginning, gotten themselves lost, heading in the wrong direction. Now they had to follow the footsteps that they had made, in order to get back to that mound that they thought was in front of the Embassy.

The snow here was deep, deep enough to swallow an elephant. That is, if there were any in Central America. They couldn't walk around the mound, it was too long. They would have to climb over it, and hope that it was solid enough not to swallow them, like the elephants.

As soon as Jack put one foot into the bank, it was like a vacuum was placed under the surface, waiting for its next victim. They couldn't climb over it, and they couldn't go around it, with out wasting valuable daylight. And now it sweeps over them all that they may never get out of this alive.

"At least we can make one heck of an igloo with all a this snow!" Sam said trying to lighten the mood.

It worked for a second, and then they all went back to feeling hopeless. Laura seemed to feel that since the one with the infection and broken leg could crack a joke to make them smile, she decided to do what he joked about. She convinced Brian to help her grab snow from the mound to create another igloo. They realized that if they take all of the snow from only one spot in the mound, they would eventually create a path that they could just walk through. But they didn't know what was on the other side of the hill.

On the other side the found out, was a plateau, a drop off. Once again, they really were trapped. They had to wait and hope to see if a plane would come and spot them close to the edge, and come to get them. But not too close or it would itself crash and cause more deaths than ever needed.

"Hey look over there!" Brian yelled.

It looked like a plane, but after the "Embassy" incident, they couldn't be too sure of it. But it truly was a plane, and it looked like it was going to land close to them to get them. They hoped it was doing that, but it started to turn and head straight for the group of them.

But it wasn't coming to get them; it was coming to stop them.


	6. Is this really happening

The plane was coming right for them. They had no idea who would actually fly a plane into them, they knew of no one who wanted them dead.

At this point it really didn't matter anymore. All they knew was that they had to get out of its path, without the pilot noticing they are too far out of range to get them. And that was a problem. They had to get all of their stuff, and an injured person out of the way, in time to save themselves. It really didn't look as though luck was on their side.

The plane was starting to approach them. It was as close to them as they needed to realize that the plane was not suddenly going to change direction and avoid them. They were running out of time. But they had no where to go. If the plane plowed into the snow, anywhere near them, they would be covered, and left there to die. If they hoped that they plane would pull up, or over shoot the landing and missed them, they could still be hit. They only choice that they had was down.

But down, was a good 20 feet down, and only three of them could even risk jumping. Sam couldn't even jump down, and would have had to be pushed down. So suddenly down was not an option either.

"What are we going to do?" Laura screamed loud enough to be heard over the approaching plane.

"I don't think there is anything we can do." Jack said depressingly.

By now the plane was no more than 200 feet away from them. If they were going to try to avoid it, they would have to think really fast. But nobody could think of an idea that would save them.

"We could try to dodge the wheels, and engine, or nose…" Brian suggested.

Everyone just stared at him like he was crazy. And with that idea, they weren't sure if he hadn't gone insane because of not being able to use pretty much any sort of technology, and was going crazy.

"It was just a thought…" Brian added on

Still, everyone thought that his idea was just a bit of insanity seeping threw. Except for Sam. He didn't seem to think it was that bad of an idea.

"Well, if we time it just right, cuz the plane isn't really that long, we could probably avoid being hit by any part of the plane..." Sam suggested to them.

"We could try it, but I still think that it would be a bit risky, and has a better chance of us not surviving it." Laura said.

With this Brian became a bit upset. Whenever he said something it was shot down, but when either Sam or Laura said something, it was thought of as a great idea. And the three of them could tell that. They could tell that he was both mad and really upset when he walked away. And made it looked like he was trying to get right into the path of the plane so he would be hit by it.

"Brian, come back!" Sam and Laura screamed together.

Jack was still trying to figure out if there was a better way to avoid the plane but by then it was too late.

And with this last plea by Sam and Laura, Brian was struck by the plane, which made the plane miss being anywhere near the people that were trying to get him to come back.

With this, the plane took of and jetted back into the sky, and was no where to be seen. Jack ran over to see if Brian was ok, and got there and wasn't sure if he was just badly hurt, or dead.

He wasn't moving for awhile, so they managed to move his body onto a sled, just to see if he would eventually wake up again.

Now they had two injured people. One of which they weren't sure was still alive. But they had to find a way to get of the plateau. It was just Laura and Jack who could move and they couldn't go much further without any rest. Or at least real rest.

They had managed to stop and rest for a while, yes. But they needed to actually sleep to be able to move their own bodies along with the bodies of two people they had gotten this far with.

And still, they had a long way to go from where they were.


	7. I didn't think that could happen

It was weeks before they figured out if Brian was alive or if he was not. He was not dead, but not really alive. They could see him breathing, but not any movement. Sam's leg wound had started to heal, but it wasn't getting any better. Laura and Jack still were forced to move both of them when they walked, and had to worry about whether they were on the edge of an unseen cliff.

"I am glad that Brian is not dead. He was kinda the one that kept us going, even though he didn't really seem to do too much." Laura told Jack

"True, but we can't worry about that now; we have to find somewhere to sleep tonight." Jack responded

Just then, a moan was heard. Laura asked Sam if it was him- he quickly told her it wasn't. It was Brian. Now they had definite proof that he was not dead. All they wanted to do was hug him; so that he knew him being hit wasn't for nothing.

Luckily, they resisted. And only because Laura informed them that if they did, they could crush something and he _would _die. At this point, Brian could talk, and thanked her for saying what she did to save him.

They figured that they couldn't be too far from the embassy, but they didn't know how far they were. Since the plane incident when they _thought _they saw it, they had guessed they had gone about 250 miles or so.

But, the truth was, that they had gone 250 miles west, instead of north-west. And once again, they had to find their way back to the spot they were before. They started to walk, but then remembered that they had gone that way to try to get around the plateau edge, so they started to go north to try to see if there was a better way down, than straight down.

"What if we are stuck on here until who knows when?" Brian asked

"And what if we can't find anymore food, or a source of a shelter?" Sam added

"Well, we are going to have to move on through the night, and hope we don't go crashing off a cliff and plummet to our death." Jack said to that

Laura stood there and listened to them bicker and chuckled at the sarcasm of Jack, or she hoped that it was sarcasm. She was feeling the same way as Sam, and thought that if he didn't get hurt, he would have been more of a valuable leader, than his dad was. She didn't say this though, or she felt that Brian would try to jump of a cliff, to show that what she said had an effect on more than just Sam.

The next day was sunnier, and they could barely see because of the glare from the snow. But they still had to keep moving. Sam had begun to be able to walk. And now they could only hope that he would not fall, or slip, so that he would be in the same position he, and they were in before. They felt that they were almost worse off than they were when had had to be pulled in a sled.

What they didn't know was that during the storm, a volcano had risen, and was just waiting to erupt. And it wasn't going to wait until they had passed by it for that to happen. But it wouldn't really matter- because even if they were passed it, the lava good get to them, a melt what gear they had.

"What is that smell?" Brian asked

"I don't know- but it's definitely not something I have ever smelled before." Sam replied

"I know what that smell is" Jack said "it's a volcano, and it's erupting!"

"But I thought that there are no volcanoes in the middle of whatever country we are on" Laura said "I didn't even think that it was near a plate line."

At just that moment, they saw they lava coming close to them. They didn't know where to go; it would get anywhere they could go. All they could do was run, and hope the lava couldn't catch up to them and that they won't run off in the wrong direction, and head right for the ocean.


	8. The End of Something Needed

They could tell the lava was getting closer to them. Laura could feel her hair slowly being incinerated by the heat of the lava. Luckily, the lava made the slow start to melt, and pulling the sled became easier for her. Brian was thankful for that and Sam was getting jealous because he could tell that Brian was starting to have feelings for her, and not just being friends.

Sam, Laura, and since he was being pulled on a sled, Brian were noticing a sort of ramp, that led down a hill that they could get down. But Jack didn't seem to be so lucky. He had tripped over something that Laura had dropped, and had injured his ankle and could not run well, if not at all. And the lava was coming dangerously close.

But then there was a sudden change in the unpredictable weather. And once again, the temperature plummeted, and along with the natural hardening of the lava, it was not so cold, it had frozen. They were all in complete shock.

The three of them had gotten down the slope, and were waiting for Jack at the bottom. They finally saw that the lava did not get him. When he got there, they had a few questions to ask him.

"What temperature does lava _freeze_ at?" Laura asked

"I, I don't know." Jack replied quietly because he was out of breath.

"I didn't know it could!" Brian added

"That's not what we should be worried about now." Sam said, pointing at the slope that had saved their lives.

"What, what is that?" Laura asked

It was nothing that they had seen before, nothing they know how to ward off. It was something that had managed to survive under the snow, with the heat of the magma. It looked like a mountain lion mixed with some sort of tiger. More like a Saber-tooth Tiger.

"It looks like and extinct Saber-Tooth." Brian said

"But they are extinct, how could it be one?" Sam replied questioningly

"Well whatever it is, I don't want it to get close, we already have to outrun a lava flow, and I don't want to have to try to out run some sort of Saber-Tooth Tiger type animal." Laura told them

It was just a mountain lion. But it was in no condition to be friendly. It had not had food in over five weeks, its fur was mangled and up on its ends, it was scowling and baring its teeth. And it was charging right at them.

--------------------------------

They were still exhausted from running away from the lava, but had to keep going to not become the first meal that it had in a while. Laura had to pull even harder than before, this land was flat, but very bumpy, and plagued with displaced rocks. And Sam was beginning to show signs of extreme pain in the leg he had injured. Jack was only one who was only carrying himself, and was the most used to the conditions, but had really tired out trying to escaping the lava flow. And was the closest to the savage animal.

He wasn't as lucky this time. And once again, something had fallen out of the sled, and had tripped Jack. The mountain lion was much faster than they had thought, and he didn't have much time before the creature got to him. Sam wanted to run back to save his dad, but it was too late. If he did that, the mountain lion would have gotten him too. All he could do, it make sure that he, Laura, and Brian would be able to get back and tell what had happened to them, and Jack. He wasn't sure how his mom would take it that he had survived walking to New York, but had been attacked by a mountain lion no more than 50 miles away from the Embassy of the United States. But they didn't know they were that close to it, or they wouldn't have stopped, and waited the night to move on again.

The mountain lion luckily didn't get the sled, with the food on it, so they could eat, but only if they could eat. They still had to leave the corpse of Jack lying there, if they did not, it would make it wore for them, whenever they did try to eat. Now, they had to trust there instincts, and try to find their way back to the place that they now were longing to see.


	9. Returning

Just being the three of them, they had no adult to help them when they are put into a situation that they had never faced before. And they had not seen the mountain lion since the encounter, and they were glad for that. They know another would go if it returned. They were in no condition to fight anything off. And now they weren't even trying to really navigate, just hope that they were going in the right direction. And they had.

"What's that over there?" Laura questioned.

"I think it's the EotUSoA." Sam replied.

They didn't want to get their hopes up like before. It could just be another mirage. They told Brian to throw a rock at it to see if it was sold. But he tried and missed completely. So this time Sam tried, and he hit something. They walked up to it and found that it was what they had been searching for, for more than 3 weeks.

They walked in, and everyone just stared at them, in amazement that they were alive. Some little kid poked Laura, to see if she was real, or if they were all going crazy. They saw Lucy come out of the crowd. She was ecstatic to see they had survived yet another storm. She just couldn't let go of Sam, and everyone could tell he just wanted to sleep more than anything. But then a sudden look of distraught came over her face.

"Where is your father?" She asked, mostly directed to Sam.

But it was Laura who replied. "A mountain lion attacked him. He was immediately killed and all of the flesh a muscle was ripped off and served as that animal's first meal in maybe months."

Everyone was completely silent when they heard this news. Then some one in the crowd broke out in tears. They weren't sure who it was. Still, most where to stunned to do anything, at all.

Eventually everyone went back to business but it was easy to tell they were still in complete shock. Sam showed his mother the cut in his leg, and had doctors come to him, so he could rest. They discovered that the infection that he had had was usually one that leaves people paralyzed without immediate attention. But some how, he didn't need it. All three of them received medical attention. Brian, who had a concussion, had only minor bruising in his neck and back. Laura didn't look like she had any impalements, but she had severe mal-nutrition more then the other two. She was the only one who had not had a traumatic event happen to her, so her body had needed more food and water than Sam and Brian.

**IN THE FUTURE**

Two years had now passed, and the three of them had become closer than they were when they were alone, fending for themselves in unknown territory. A memorial was set up in honor of what Jack had done when the United States was in trouble, and then when other countries were about to face the same conditions. They had found that only about 3,000 people in South America survived the storm. And the United States was able to welcome them, as though they were citizens of the country.

What they lived in was the same, army barracks, but it looked more like a home than some had ever lived in before. And complete strangers were now the best of friends.

Sam and Laura had gotten married. And even Brian had found someone he was "involved with".

Something really unexpected had started construction. They were building an amusement park so that the kids and adults could have something to do other than sit and read, or draw, or other things kids would do. Nobody expected that. They said that in "a few" more years it would be complete. And that really made everyone confused and anxious. Not such a great combination in such an area.

"When do you really think that it's going to be finished?" Sam asked. Everyone could tell he is really waiting the finishing of the park.

"I would say two to three years." Brian pondered.

In years full of horrific surprises, trauma, and in times of sheer amazement, nothing was ever expected. The saying "Expect the unexpected." was taken to heart and everyone was following it. But something once again, was happening to the trio. Brian was getting married, to a woman that he called Cleo, because her real name (Cleotriaronisha) was simply to hard for him (or her as a matter of fact) to say.

"Sam, I'm scared." Laura said.

"What for?" Sam asked

"For what is going to happen next." She said

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Sam responded

"The storm, it happened twice. What's saying it won't happen again? Laura said


End file.
